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Matt Mathews
Matt Mathews (born Dylan Matthews, December 19, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. Mathews currently works for Jay Jefferson's Universal Wrestling League where he is formter two-time UWL World Champion, two-time Heritage Champion, two-time Tag Team Champion and TV Champion. Throughout his career Mathews has garnered a lot of fame through his work in the Knoxville-based Universal Wrestling League and the United Kingdom-based Grapple Arts World-Wide. Mathews' rise to fame came very late in his career. Whiile he had been a consistent figure in various New England based feds, he never was well known. It wasn't until his break in 2004 with the Slam-Time Wrestling Corporation that Mathews became well-known. Mathews is most known for his sense of "tradition", a trait which is both part of his kayfabe character and his true personallity. Throughout his career Mathews had captured multiple World and Heavyweight Championships, as well as various other Tag and second tier Championships. Mathews' ongoing feud with The Phenomenal Blu has also made him widely popular and well-known throughout the United States, likewise through his work with the UWL as well as other East Coast based feds, Mathews has become one of the most well-known and respected wrestlers in that region. Mathews is a globally known superstar, having wrestled across North America, Japan, and Europe. Career Early career Contrary to popular belief, Matthews entered the wrestling world in his early twenties, training under Harvey Dickinson IV. For a time Matthews trained with the big man and eventually struck out on his own, joining the Upstate Wrestling Organization under the name of Dylan Anderson. While working with the UWO Mathews saw limited success. He struggled and continued to wrestle for various small promotions scattered throughout the New England region until the age of 28. During this time he was initially paired with Kayla Stone and took on the ring name of Matt Matthews (later changed to Matt ''Mathews). Later he would appear less and less frequently as the time spent at his non-wrestling jobs increased. Eventually at 31 he was laid out with a shoulder injury. After a successful recovery, Mathews returned to the ring at the age of 33, now looking stronger than ever. He dyed his hair black and returned the New England Indies with Kayla, his real-life and on-screen girlfriend. For a time Mathews played the part of an intimidating good guy and wrestled under his real name, Dylan Matthews. At this point Mathews weighed about 270 and he had a lot of muscle mass, having spent the past few years seriously bulking up. Still he saw minimal success and he was side-lined again, this time for a minor jaw injury that would keep him out for three months. Breaking Out: Late 2004 - Slamtime Wrestling Corporation After returning from a minor jaw injury Mathews landed a deal with Slametime Wrestling Corporation. He had dyed his hair back to its original dark brown and changed his look. Overnight Mathews took on the look of a high-profile superstar. His weight also dropped to about 280, but he was still considered a "big man" for the time being. Mathews went into SWC alone, as the owners did not feel Stone would draw and wasn't worth the money. Mathews wrestled on the debut show of SWC, loosing an eight-man scramble match for the vacant Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Tim Harrison. Mathews would then enter his most memorable feud to date with then high-profile star, The Phenomenal Blu. The two put one some amazing matches and thus began the start of Mathews' un-pinned streak. The feud ended after Mathews soundly defeated Blu in a No Holds Barred-Fans Bring the Weapons Match. It was after this, that Mathews began to develop his character more into the one he uses today. He started bragging about ending Blu's career (who in reality, wanted a quiet retirement) and he adopted the "Career Killer" nickname in addition to the "Hollywood" one he had already adopted. 2005 -> 2006 Slamtime Wrestling Corporation With Blu out of the way Mathews finally earned his one-on-one with Tim Harrison for the SWC Championship. Over the next few weeks, Mathews bloodied The Egyptian Dream backstage, putting him in the hospital. He also beat Attik in a Hardcore Match, subsequently ending his career as well. (in reality SWC was doing roster cuts and both men needed to be written off TV) Mathews had now taken three names and had momentum going into his match with Harrison. When the night came Mathews ultimately won and he became the second ever SWC Heavyweight Champion. Tim Harrison decided to retire after his loss to Mathews (in reality, Harrison had suffered a legitimate injury during the match), further Mathews' nickname as the "Career Killer." After winning the belt, Kayla Stone was reintroduced as Mathews' valet. However as it would hold, SWC folded no more than a month later, thus Mathews held the belt until the end, yet he never had a single defense. Tough Enough Wrestling Mathews soon found himself with a contract offer from TEW, a neighboring federation to the SWC. Mathews signed on the condition that Kayla Stone be given a manager deal, which TEW management accepted. Mathews immediately entered a SWC vs TEW Feud which, shockingly, saw Team SWC come out on top. Mathews was able to maintain his un-pinned record, however he lost a Battle Royal, a few Tag Matches (he wasn't pinned) and even a few matches via DQ during this time. Mathews slowly worked his way up and eventually earned a TEW Title shot against then Champion, Rob Hero. However, The Phenomenal Blu made his shocking return to wrestling after only a brief retirement. The feud with Mathews reignited until TEW ultimately folded. Blu won the Championship on the last show in a Triple Threat Match by pinning Rob Hero. Slamtime Wrestling Corporation II In this time, Andrew Fyre, better known as "Inferno" purchased the assets to the SWC. He started the federation up once more and declared every Championship vacant. Mathews immediately resigned along with Kayla Stone. (by this point, his fiancé) Mathews would go on to complain, stating he was truly the SWC Champion because he held the belt last. This caught the attention of Blu, who also resigned to SWC, and former Champion Tim Harrison. For the opening show Fyre decided to book a Cage Warfare Match (also called by some, Phenomenal Deathtrap 2) between the three competitors. Mathews came out on top with assistance from Stone to capture his second SWC Championship, however he was side-lined for two weeks due to injuries from the match. (kayfabe) Soon Mathews starting meeting challengers from all over the SWC, Rick Claderaz, Chris Cage and Pat Doyle to name a few. The number-one contender however remained Blu, but he was mysteriously taken out backstage and was subsequently out of action for months. (in reality, this was his true retirement) It was revealed to be Mathews who attacked Blu. As punishment, Fyre booked a five man "Junkyard" Match for the SWC Championship. Mathews would defend his belt against Cage, Calderaz, Doyle, Harrison and Kurt Noble. However, before the match Mathews jumped Cage and he was replaced by Christian Kane. The match never aired live, because, like the past, the SWC was folding. The show still occurred and saw Pat Doyle win the belt by pinning Kane. American Wrestling Federation This federation was short-lived, however Mathews joined it in late 2005 while competing with TEW. Mathews won the first and only AWF Heavyweight Championship Tournament by defeating Pat Doyle in the finals. The company foldeda week later, and Mathews remains the only AWF Champion, ever. Ultimate Vendetta Wrestling Shortly after the SWC's second fold, SWC Champion Pat Doyle opened up the UVW. Any SWC stars who wanted contracts were given them, and this included Matt Mathews. By this point, Mathews had dropped the "Career Killer" and he was developing a more egocentric and cynical character. He began to flaunt his intelligence and mentally mess with his opponents, something that could be credited to his legitimate degree in Psychology. He demanded a rematch with Pat Doyle for the SWC Championship, to which Doyle agreed. Mathews won the belt back and turned his sights to the UVW Championship. Mathews managed to retain his unpinned status during this time while suffering minor losses now and again by other means. Soon he was entered into the first ever Melee Cage Warfare, featuring himself, Chris Cage, UWL Champion Rick Calderaz, Rob Hero and Mike Shea. It was in this time Mathews established his rivalry with Chris Cage. Mathews won the match, and was immediately named not only UVW Champion, but then SWC-UVW Undisputed Champion as well. Like with the past however, the UVW folded weeks later. A joke was soon made that when Mathews wins a Championship, the federation shuts down. Mid-2006 -> 2007 NWA: Grind After taking a good number of months off Mathews came to Chris Cage's NWA: Grind federation. The company, like others, heavily consisted of past SWC/UVW stars, but it also featured many rising ones. Mathews quickly found himself in a feud with Christian Kane. The two warred for weeks until The Phenomenal Blu, once again, returned from retirement. On the debut of the Hollywood Hot-Seat, Blu was Mathews' guest. Kane however stormed the ring and the world was stunned to see Blu attack Kane. It was revealed that Mathews asked Blu to come out of retirement and the Alliance from Hell was created. Kane had been booked to face Mathews the next week in the Grind Heavyweight Title Tournament. However he could not compete and Cage, determined to end the Alliance, booked Blu as Mathews' opponent. They met in a Lead Pipe on a Pole Match which saw Mathews the victor. Mathews went on to a 5-Man King of the Mountain Match which saw Rick Claderez emerge as the champion. In the next weeks, Mathews would earn another shot at Rick in a Full Metal Mayhem Match. However, another rising star, Delikado decided to get in on the fun. For two weeks he kidnapped and kept Kayla Stone away from ringside. This caused Mathews to lose on the second week to Delikado via pinfall for the first time in over a year. As a reward for pinning Mathews, Delikado was added to the Full Metal Mayhem Match. Still he continued to mess with Kayla Stone and Mathews had him thrown in jail. Kayla Stone then disappeared from T.V. in what was a safety issue. (In reality her and Mathews were married his time off and she was pregnant) Delikado did not make it to the Full Metal Mayhem Match and Mathews defeated Calderez to capture the Grind Heavyweight Championship. As luck would have it... the company folded two weeks later. Deluxe Pro Wrestling A week after suffering his first pinfall loss Mathews decided to branch out. He secured a contract with DPW. There he saw immediate success, defeating several opponents, and losing a few matches. He began to gun after DPW World Champion, Diana Waters but came up short on each instance due to interferences. DPW took some time to close for a week, but Mathews never went back when it re-opened for unknown reasons. Kingdom of Pride KoP was owned by Jeremy Sterling and many of Mathews' old rivals were there. He secured a contract and began a feud with Andrew Fyre. This would become Mathews' second bloodiest feud to date and Andrew's family was even thrown into the mix. The two were set to end the feud in a Blood, Pride, Death Match (a match of Mathews' own design) but the PPV was inexplicably canceled. The match never took place and Mathews soon quit KoP due to issues with management. During this time Mathews debut a new look. He dyed his hair a lighter shade of brown and streaked it with auburn highlights. In addition, he also began to feather his hair, though he claims it’s actually naturally feathered. He also dropped a lot of weight and the people saw a leaner looking Mathews. Universal Wrestling League After taking even more time off, Mathews found himself with a contract in the renown UWL. He met success almost immediately, defeating seasoned veterans Ryan Helms, Ace Styles and Ryan Murphy. Soon after he entered a feud with Clint Waters. After a few brawls and a match at Nightmare II, Mathews vanquished his opponent and set himself up for an even brighter future. Mathews earned a slot in a Battle Royal for the newly created UWL Television Championship but lost in the end to Adam Houston. As luck would have it, the following week would established Mathews into the ongoing New Generation/Old Guard Feud. Mathews challenged Shawn Stevens for the UWL World Heavyweight Championship and lost after refusing to tap out. Mathews went on to complain about be screwed and subsequently was revealed to be the New Generation's third man alongside Jason Hunt and then-Heritage Champion Brad Hunter. As luck would hold, Adam Houston joined their ranks to take on the Old Guard. However, going into the next DVD Taping Mathews would take on Julian Cutlass, whom he subsequently beat. The feud finally escalated when Flap Flanagan and the returning Flying Diamond Cutter Man joined up with The Best Team Eva. After 2 Man Amry won the UWL Tag Team Championship from BTE, Mathews was named Champion as well, as the New Generation declared they'd be defending the belts under the Freebird Rule. On November 28, Jason Hunt shocking announced his departure from UWL. It is speculated that Mathews will officially take his place as half of the Tag Champions. On December 1 Mathews contacted UWL and told them he had relieved Mark DuBrow of his services, and so DuBrow was taken off TV. At Final Countdown 2007 Mathews defeated Josh Eagles to capture his first singles title with the company. SPEAR Wrestling Syndicate After spending a little over two months in UWL Mathews joined SPEAR, a company founded by Josh Eagles, who had purchased Power On Wrestling. Mathews quickly formed a team with Mark Moltres called Incandescence and they defeated Omega Storm and Scott Lanagen to become the first ever SWS Tag Team Champions. Moltres and Mathews have a stressed relationship, but they have shown to be a very formidable duo. Incandescence was set to defend their belts against The Black Legion at November Pain, but the Black Legion never showed. Subsequently, Incandescence were nammed the winners by forfeit. The following week on December 6 Mathews got one of his biggest wins in recent history by defeating David Hunter after conneting with the Wake-Up Call. At December for Remembrance, Incandescence lost the Tag Championship to The Dan and Chaz Leland when Mathews hit Moltres with a huge Spinebuster. Later that night he defeated The Dan to win the SWS Valor Championship, surprisingly with help from his former partner. 2008 Universal Wrestling League Mathews rung in the new year by defeating Jack Cassidy on January 2. At Access Denied III the New Generation lost a War Games Match to the Old Guard when Houston tapped to Eagles. After the match, Matt stopped an attack from Houston on Brad Hunter, but he himself turned on Hunter a few moments later. On January 17 Mathews defeated Vincent Varillion to unify the Heritage and Television Championships. On February 9 at Grand Voyage Matt was one of four men competing in, "Ultimate Endurance" a Fatal-Four Way Elimination Match also involving Mark Faith, Brad Hunter and UWL Champion Shawn Stevens. Matt lost the Heritage Championship early on when Mark Faith pinned and eliminated Shawn Stevens, however Matt went on to win the World Championship by pinning Brad Hunter for the third and final fall. On February 14, before making his victory speech, Mathews announced that his tag partner for the UWL Coronation Tag Cup would be none other than Mark Moltres. It was also during this time, Mathews began to fully develop a new personality; he's become even more arrogant and has - on numerous occasions - called himself a "God". His appearance also changed in turn, though not drastically. Two weeks prior at UWL's 100th Show, Mathews defeated the returning Jason Hunt in singles competition. The following week, he and Mark Moltres picked up a win against The Baseball Furies in the first week of the Coronation Tag Cup. Mathews went on to have a successful title defense against Brad Hunter in a Steel Cage Match at UWL's 100th Show. A week later the team of Incandescence defeated Big Ci and Kailus Holmes to score another win in the Coronation Tag Cup. This week they will take on The Best Team Eva in the third round, and the week after Matt will meet Jack Cassidy at Battle of the Bluegrass in what will be his second World Title defense. Over the next two weeks, Incandescecne would lose once to Team UFP, but defeat Twitch and Eddy to tie up Block A in the Coronation Tag Cup with 8 points for themselves, however in the end in Icandescence lost along with UFP to the Best Team Eva, who would go along to win the Coronation Cup in the finals. A week later Mathews bid farewell to Mark Moltres and went to focus once more on his singles career. At the first ever Pay-Per-View event for the UWL (Exceeding Expectations) Matt defended his title against Jason Hunt with some surprise assistance from Brad Hunter. Afterwards, he was challenged by Flap Flanagan to put the belt on the line. Matt was forced into the match but managed to walk out with the belt after making Flap tap out to a Triangle Choke. The following week Mathews lost the belt in an upset loss to Thaurer. At Destiny III Mathews failed to regain the World Championship when Ciarán McConnell made Champion Thaurer tap out. After bringing in "close-friend" Leon Tyrell to help him get back on track, Mathews defeated Johnny Slayer at All-Star Spectacular continuing their long standing feud. Over the weeks Mathews and Tyrell began hosting a web show found exclusively on UWL.com called ''The Perfection Project (which was latter changed to Project Perfection). The duo use the show as a way to hype themselves, but also to bash their opponets and throw a little more humor into their promos. After Tyrell's successful UWL debut against Slayer, the duo behind "Project Perfection" made their tag debut soundly defeating UWL newcomers Logan Hayes and Trevor Richer. At Championship Extravaganza IV Mathews met Slayer and Catastrohpe in a Tag Match alongside Tyrell, however the match abruptly ended in a no contest after the fight spilled backstage, and into the streets of Charlotte. Mathews recently announced that at Honor & Glory on August 30 he'd be taking on Johnny Slayer in the first ever Blood, Pride, and Death Match. However, in a shocking move the match was moved to August 13 in Shelby, North Carolina, and saw Matt Mathews walk out the victor after a quick and vicious beatdown. Mathews is one of the 16 men taking place in the 2008 Coronation Cup. He won his three bouts against David Hunter, Flap Flanagan and Tiger Claw, and despite a semi-final win over Kyle Neverwinter, in the end he lost to John Anthony. On August 30 at Honor and Glory Mathews defeated Tiger Claw and the Phenomenal Blu in a Triple Threat to claim his second Heritage Championship. Later on September 10 Mathews along with Blu and Harrison defeated the remaining members of the new broken Celtic Coalition in a 6-man Tag Match. Despite "liberating" the UWL from the Coalition, only a week later at Pure Aggression Mathews, Harrison, Blu, Anthony and Tyrell all formed a stable known as EPIC. (E'xcellence, '''P'erfection, 'I'nnovation, 'C'hampions.) On this night Mathews would also successfully defend his Heritage Championship in a Last Man Standing Match against Tiger Claw. Three weeks later Mathews would once again defend his Championship successfully against Tiger Claw in a Dog Collar Match. Two weeks later Mathews lost the Championship to Shawn Stevens after being attacked by an unknown assailent in the dark. The following week Mathews began an investigation to find who screwed him. He has questioned many people, from Delikado to Shawn Stevens, but still hasn't learned anything. Two weeks after Southern Comfort however - in the midst of his investigation - Mathews would team with Blu to win UWL Tag Team Championship from Noble and Flanagan. This would mark Mathews' first legitimate Tag Title run. At 3 Year Celebration the Best Team Eva was able to defeat EPIC in a 4-man Survivor Elimination Tag Match by DQ after the eliminated Mathews and Blu attacked Venom. After the match Tim Harrison got on the microphone and revealed it was he who jumped Mathews at Southern Comfort. The UWL would later close after what was intended to be a brief hiatus. SPEAR Wrestling Syndicate On January 4 Mathews successfully defended his belt for the first time when he defeated Keiji Inoki in a Hardcore Match after connecting with the seldom seen, Mathews Moonsault. It also solidified Mathews decision to defend the belt under Hardcore Rules rather than Pure Rules. A week after defeating Zeke Inferno in a Hardcore Match, Matt went on to January Mayhem to successfully defend his belt against Charles Anthony. A week later Kayla Stone was reintroduced to the wrestling world. She made her SPEAR debut a week later in a losing effort to Lindsey Daniels, however this was a ploy that lead to Mathews brutally assaulting both Daniels and Elisse Gairden post match. The next week, Mathews would team up with David Hunter to take on Flap Flanagan and Lindsey Daniels in a "Winners Take All" Match, where both Flap's North American Championship and Mathews' Valor Championship were on the line. Mathews and Hunter won, and as a result, Mathews retained. The next week Mathews defended his belt against Lindsey Daniels once more in a one on one Hardcore Match and successfully retained. Mathews was eliminated in the first round of the Realize Your Dream tournament by David Hunter. Two weeks later Matt dropped Kayla Stone with a Hollywood-Hangover before defeating Alexander Savage. The following week at March Realization Matt defended his belt against Johnny Slayer with some unintentional help from his former valet. Later that evening, Matt was eliminated in the 10-Man North American Championship Number One Contenders Match thanks to the combined efforts of Slayer and Stone. The following week in a Triple Threat Match, both Mathews and Slayer covered Thaurer and we thus named Co-Champions. The three men were set to face off at Traumatizaion in a Triple Threat rematch, however the show has since passed and results are unknown to the public due to Spear's sudden close. Samurai's Sword Professional Wrestling When the announcemnet came that SPEAR was closing Mathews wasted no time and signed with Jaeremy Sterling's SSPW promotion based out of Japan. Mathews made a successful debut by defeating "Bad-Ass" Bill. After solidifying an alliance with old rival Phenomenal Blu, Mathews went on to defeat Blood Pump to secure a spot in a Fatal Four Way Phenomenal Deathtrap to determine the first Samurai Champion. The Phenomenal Blu went on to win this match, though it had been announced beforehand it would be SSPW's final show. Grapple Arts World-Wide On the GAW debut show Matt Mathews defeated a Masked Man. Mathews and Blu rebooted their career-long feud on August 29 in a match that saw Mathews come out the victor. After ruining a main event bout between Ethan Vrykolakas and World Chamoion Keith Skyfire, Mathews went on to win the GAW World Championship in a Triple Threat match at GAW's first megacard involving Vrykolakas and Skyfire. Two weeks later Mark Fyfe announced that GAW would be closing due to bad workrates, unreliable workers, and poor attendance. However it should be noted tht Mathews along with a small group of others were considered to have put in effort during GAW's slump. 2009 -> Present Ring of America On January 13 Mathews signed a contract with Ring of Ameica and on the first show on January 26, Mathews defeated Doomsayer, of WCW fame. The following week Mathews would go on to win a 20-man Battle Royal to become the first RoA American Heavyweight Champion, last eliminating Tic Tic. The following week Mathews was involved in a (kayfabe) fight with fans after a match with JA Sawyer. As a result the following week during an American Heavyweight Championship between Mathews and Tic Tic, the Champion was represented by his "lawyer" (Mark DuBrow in one-shot appearance); the reason for Mathews not attending was that he feared for his own safety. This turned out to be a ruse, as Mathews would attack a mentally unstable Tic Tic once the papers were signed. Mathews went on the following week to have a successful title defense. Over the next few weeks the rivalry between Mathews and Tic Tic began to escalate. Two weeks after his title defense Mathews was placed in a Pick Your Poison Match against The Phenomenal Blu, he went on to win this match while Tic Tic also defeated his hand-picked opponet, Frankie. While each man had the next week off they got into a brawl backstage that resulted in Tic Tic stealing Mathews' American Heavyweight Championship, and ended with the Champ being run down by a car. Tic Tic denied any involvement in the incident, and the next week he demanded a match with the man who stole his belt and (allegedly) had him ran down. This lead to an I Quit Match at Night of Infamy, where Mathews lost the belt after the referee stopped the match due to Mathews being knocked-out. Following this Mathews called for a rematch against Tic Tic. The Champion was forced to accept and an Iron Man Challenge was booked for the night supercard. However ROA folded the week before the show, leaving many questions as to what the result would have been. A few days following this Mathews made a post on his official blog stating that the plan was for him to put Tic Tic over via help from Frankie, and then give him a rub by saying he ran down Mathews. According to Mathews, Frankie was also set to "retire" him from ROA, as Mathews had grown tired of the company and those within it. United Wrestling Corporation (McManus Productions) On June 11 it was confirmed by Mathews himself on his blog that at SuperMania 5 he would be taking on his old friend and rival, The Phenomenal Blu, in a Two-Out-of-Three Falls Match. In his pre-match interview Mathews went over the history between himself and Blu and made a statement that their feud will not this night, and that he would rather die than let it be remembered that "The Phenomenal Blu is better than Matt Mathews." Mathews would go on to take the first fall with a Career Killer and lose the second to a Tombstone Piledriver. The match remained even, and in the end it looked like Mathews would wrap things up with The Hangover; however Blu caught his rival and planted him with The Shades of Blu (which is the same move as Mathews' Career Killer). Mathews was in the corner of Leon Tyrell on November 12 for Hallowicked in the latter's match with The Maxx. On December 15 it was announced, and latter confirmed the next day on his official blog, that Mathews would captain a team, dubbed "Team Perfection" for a big 4-on-4 Elimination Match in February for the Deadly Games show. On the show Matt and his team of Dustin Douglass, Jack Benevolence, and The Phenomenal Blu took on the team of "Epic Glory" consisting of Robbie Venom, Shawn Stevens, Kurt Noble, and Chris Hart. Team Perfection would lose the match, with Matt - the final man on his team - being eliminated last by the sole-survivor, Kurt Noble. On April 18th Mathews will be appearing in another UWC-booked supercard, where he will be one of thirty men featured in a Royal Rumble style main event. Pro Wrestling Honor After the fall of RoA Mathews announced his retirement on his official blog. However unknown to the wrestling world, he signed a contract with PWH, wrestling under a mask and the name of '''The American Dragon. As the Dragon Mathews received support from one Stephen Moore, who it was thought was there to guide Dragon to the top (it would latter be assumed that Mathews used Moore to hide his own identitty). Mathews made his debut as The Dragon at on May 16, defeating Blake Michaels in singles competition. As a reward for his impressive debut The Dragon was entered into a five man "Medal of Honor" match for Under Pressure. The Dragon would win the match, defeating other top PWH stars in Josh Eagles, Robbie Venom, Jerry McClean, and The Phenomenal Blu. Holding the Medal of Honor enabled The Dragon to challenge for the PWH Heavyweight Championship whenever he so desired, and Stephen Moore expressed that his client refused to use this opportunity until he had proven himself worthy. Strangely The Dragon was left off of the Allied Powers supercard set on day before SuperMania 5. As a result, Mathews made an appearance with his family at ringside without his mask on. He taunted Tim Harrison before his match and hinted at a possible return to the ring (of course Mathews was already competing in the company as The Dragon). It was unknown whether or not he planned to make an in-ring return in the near future. All the same the "feud" has continued, with Mathews taking several shots at Harrison (largely calling him "Harrisuck") in his weekly blogs, and commenting on and berating his actions in PWH. All the while Mathews continued to look impressive as The American Dragon, and was rewarded with a one-on-one match with Shawn Stevens for the PWH Championship at Some Like it Hot on July 18. It is worth noting that The Dragon was given this shot without using his Medal of Honor, and as a result he still had a second chance if he were to lose. Dragon went on to defeat Shawn Stevens after countering a high-risk move from Stevens into the Eternal Slumber, winning the gold and maintain his undefeated streak in PWH. The following week The Dragon unmasked, revealing himself to be Matt Mathews. He went on to claim that the reason for his deception was a goal to ultimately prove that he truly is the best in the business, and more importantly to finally score the one on one win over Shawn Stevens. Mathews claimed that he no longer (and never) needed his infamous reputation to be a star, and that since his debut in the company, proved that week after week. He then went on to tell Stevens he wouldn't be given a rematch until he could win the Medal of Honor from Mathews, and put the entire roster (most notably Tim Harrison) on notice that he'd only give the best opportunities at his belt. The following week it was announced that PWH would be dissolving back into a revived Universal Wrestling League. In his final PWH match (and first under his own name) Mathews once again defeated Johnny Dalton in the main event, and was attacked by Tim Harrison after the show. Universal Wrestling League (Revival) When the revival of the UWL was announced Jefferson stated that all former UWL Champions remained in possession of their titles, and that all PWH Champions would be involved in various unification matches. As a result, Mathews entered the revived UWL as both one half of the UWL Tag Team Champions and the PWH Heavyweight Champion. Three weeks into UWL's revival Mathews met Venom at Rebirth: Stage One where both his PWH and Venom's UWL Championships where on the line. Mathews would dominate the latter portion of the match, but in the end lost after an outside interference from Shawn Stevens and two Venom Splashes. The following week Mathews went on a rampage as a reuslt of his loss. In adittion to winning a match over James Brooks, he assaulted various backstage UWL personal, Ciaran McConnell, Seth Riggs, Jerry McClean, Robbie Venom, and Tim Harrison. After a botched attempt on eliminating Shawn Stevens, Mathews was confronted by UWL Commissioner Stu Floyd. Floyd warned Mathews that if he were to continue down this route he'd be fired on the spot. Ever the arrogant one, Mathews dared Floyd to follow through with his threat, but before he could say the words "You're Fired" Mathews attacked him and laid him out with the Wake-Up Call. The following week Stevens once more cost Mathews a Championship, screwing he and Blu out of a UWL-PWH Tag Team Championship unification match. An Anything Goes Match was booked between the two for All Star Spectacular II, and two weeks leading up to it Mathews looked to repeat his assault on Stu Floyd on UWL's President Jay Jefferson. Stevens however made the save this time, causing things to heat up. The Anything Goes Match between the two proved to be brutal, it not even reaching the ring until the very end of the match. Stevens managed to pick up the win, however afterwards Mathews attacked Shawn in an act of one-upmanship. The UWL Coronation Cup League was booked the following month, and Mathews was entered into Block D. He cleared his Block and went on to the finals, beating Gillie Mae in the semi-finals, but losing to Shawn Stevens in the last match, making him two-time UWL Coronation Runner-Up. During the Coronation Cup the feud between the two men was be announced to end at Grand Voyage II on October 31. Stevens made the challenge, TLC in a Cage in front of his hometown of Chicago, in a match where Mathews would also be putting the Medal of Honor on the line. Despite losing the Coronation Cup at Championship Extravaganza a week before "TLCage," Mathews went on to defeat Stevens, and bring their long-time feud to a close. The next month after defeating Gillie Mae at the 4 Year Celebration, Mathews cashed in his Medal of Honor for an opportunity at Robbie Venom and the UWL World Heavyweight Championship on December 19 at Final Countdown. Despite the adittion of Shawn Stevens in the match, making it a Triple Threat, Mathews went on to score the pin and subsequently capture the belt for the second time. The following month he lost the belt to Jerry McClean at Access Denied IV after an interference from Tic Tic. Follow regular assaults from Tic Tic as well as his desire to reclaim the title, Mathews was booked into two huge matches for UWL's upcoming double-shot. Despite his best efforts however he would lose both of the matches, failing to defeat Tic Tic on February 26 at Only the Strong Survive III, as well as his title rematch inside of a Barbed-Wire Steel Cage at All Star Spectacular III. Following the shattering loss (which was an outcome of some timely interference by Tic Tic), Mathews would demand a second UWL match with Tic Tic. After weeks of assaults and brawls both in and out of the ring, it was announced that they would meet on March 28 at Honor & Glory. In Wrestling *'Finishing Moves' :*'The (Hollywood-)Hangover / Omniscient Overdrive' (Top-Rope Cutter) (2006-Current) :*Special Treatment (Modified Reverse STO) (2005-2009) :*The Career Killer (Rolling Cutter) (2004-2006) (*Used as a Signiture Move from 2008 onwards*) :*Plastic Surgery / Special Treatment Redux (Double-Underhook DDT) (2006) :*Wake-Up Call (Modified Go 2 Sleep) (2007-2008) :*'The Insuperable Lock' (Inverted Indian Deathlock) (2008-Current) :*'Put to Rest '(Michinoku Driver II) (Current) (*Used as The American Dragon, however Mathews continues to use this move even after unmasking*) :*Eternal Slumber (Go 2 Sleep) (2009) (*Used as The American Dragon*) *''Signature''/Regular Moves :*''The Mathews Moonsault'' :*Powerbomb into the Turnbuckle :*''Spike Piledriver'' :*''Various Neckbreakers'' ::*Swinging Neckbreaker ::*Running Neckbreaker ::*Stalled Neckbreaker ::*3/4ths Neckbreaker ::*Jumping Neckbreaker ::*Rolling Neckbreaker :*Facebuster Flapjack :*''Triangle Choke Hold '' :*''Spear'' :*''"Arn Anderson" Spinebuster'' :*Arm bar :*Double-Hook DDT :*Snap DDT :*''Vertibreaker'' :*Tiger Driver :*STF Hold :*''Dragon Sleeper'' :*German Suplex :*Belly-to-Back Suplex :*Gutwrench Suplex :*Vertical Suplex :*Stalled Vertical Suplex :*Lariat :*Clothesline :*Ura-nage :*Millitary Press :*Illegal Chokes *'Managers and Associates' :*Kayla Stone ::*Early Career - April 2007, ::*February 2008 - March 2008 ::*August 2008 - Current :*Mark DuBrow (October 2007 - December 2007) :*Leon Tyrell (June 2008 - Current) :*Stephen Moore (May 2009 - July 2009) *while Mathews competed as The American Dragon* *'Nicknames' :*The Career Killer :*'The Presence of Perfection' :*The Lord of Luxury :*'The Embodiment of Excellence' :*The Allah of Arrogance :*The Brains of The New Generation :*The Lord of Light :*Perfection Manifest :*'The Icon of Dominance' :*'The Immaculate One' *'Theme Music' :*"Insomnia" by Anthem (2009) (Used during his run as The American Dragon) :*"Find the Real" by Alterbridge (2004-2005) :*"One Day Remains" by Alterbridge (2005) :*"Requiem for a Tower" by Clint Mansell (2008) (Tag Team w/ The Phenomenal Blu, they use a special remixed called the "EPIC Remix") :*"Daze of the Weak" by Fozzy (2006) :*'"Enemy" by Fozzy (2006-Current)' :*"The Enemy" by Godsmack (2007-2008) :*"The Lord of Light" by Iron Maiden (2008) The Matt Mathews Curse There is joke amongst some wrestlers (primarily those who worked with Mathews in SWC, UVW and Grind) that whenever Mathews wins a company's top title, it immediately folds one to four weeks later. While the "Curse" was believed to have ended upon Mathews' winning the UWL World Championship, recently GAW closed down after he won their top title. The following is a list of Mathews' World/Heavyweight Title reigns that were soon followed by a federtion closong down. *SWC folded twice after Mathews won the belt. (The first time took two weeks, the second roughly a month) *AWF folded a week after Mathews won the belt. *UVW folded two weeks after Mathews won the belt. *Grind folded a week after Mathews won the belt. (In his defense however, the show where he won was planned as the final show, as management knew the company was about to fold) *GAW folded two weeks after Mathews won the belt. (Like the others however it had been in a downward slump prior.) It's simply that Mathews couldn't draw a crowd, coupled with bad circumstances. People would flock away from arenas when he won the belt; with the added problem of the companies always being in trouble prior to Mathews being booked to win. Some speculate that Mathews would be booked to win in an attempt to kill the company off (shows where Mathews defended the title had low attendance records in the past). Bad wrestling or not however, the pattern has been evident over recent years. Breaking Kayfabe One thing that has become synonymous with the Matt Mathews character over recent years is his willingness to break kayfabe. This is usually done for storyline purposes, such as calling Andrew "Inferno" Fyre by his real name to make the feud seem more personal. Other instances includes mentioning Chris Cage's real life daughter during promos despite the fact his character is single or mentioning Kayla Stone (his on-screen girlfriend) as his wife. In a recent example he talked about playing the face in a match against super heel David Hunter. Both men were heels at the time; however Mathews made a joke about playing the face this match because he was hated less. In the past he has also cut "worked-shoots" on how management works in certain companies. (such examples include DPW and UWL) Probably the most notable instance of breaking kayfabe was the weak after he captured the SWC Championship for the second time. He came to the ring and talked about everything he does is for the fans, which is the opposite from his character. He then thanked the fans and apologized that he would be sidelined for a few weeks with a legitimate injury. Management was not happy with Mathews' decision to cut the promo, but he didn't face any sort of punishment and has yet to for breaking kayfabe. Other recent examples include him saying on camera that he wasn't content with the way UWL was "using" him, and that he deserves to be much higher up the card. Blood, Pride, Death Match See also: Blood, Pride, Death Match Mathews is often credited for creating the Blood, Pride, Death Match. Essentially, the match is Three Stages of Hell but it does not follow the standard 2 out of 3 falls rules. Rather, in order to win you must complete a series of objectives in a certain order. First you must bloody your opponent (Blood), then make him submit (Pride) and finally, pin them and have them stay down for a 10-count. (Death) The match is essentially, the embodiment of the First Blood, Submission Only, and Texas Death Match matches. It is stressed that each goal must be met in order. If Wrestler A were to make Wrestler B tap out before making him bleed, then the "Pride" condition will not have been met yet. To-date, this match has never actually taken place. Mathews was set to take on Andrew Fyre for the first ever Blood, Pride, Death Match. The event however was canceled and Mathews quit the company when the match was never re-scheduled. It was announced on July 30, 2008 by Mathews at a UWL TV Taping that he and Johnny Slayer would have the first official Blood, Pride, Death Match at the August Supercard, Honor & Glory in exactally one month. Championships and Accomplishments *'American Wrestling Federation' :*AWF Heavyweight Championship (first and only) :*2005 AWF Championship Tourament Winner *'Grapple Arts World-Wide' :*GAW World Heavyweight Championship (final) *'NWA: Grind' :*Grind Heavyweight Championship (final) *'Pro Wrestling Honor' :*PWH Heavyweight Championship :*Medal of Honor Winner (2009) *'Ring of America' :*American Heavyweight Champion *'Slamtime Wrestling Corporation' :*SWC Heavyweight Championship x2 *'SPEAR Wrestling Syndicate' :*SWS Valor Championship (final) :*SWS Tag Team Championship w/ Mark Moltres *'Ultimate Vendetta Wrestling' :*SWC Heavyweight Championship (final - unified with the UVW Championship) :*UVW Heavyweight Championship (final - unified with the SWC Championship) :*SWC-UVW Undisputed Championship (first and only) *'Universal Wrestling League' :*UWL World Heavyweight Championship x2 :*UWL Heritage Championship x2 :*UWL Television Championship (final - unified with the Heritage Championship) ' :*UWL Tag Team Championship x2 ::*(recognized under the Freebird Rule) w/ The New Generation'' ::* w/ The Phenomenal Blu :*Third winner of the UWL Big Three *'''Miscellaneous Accomplishments :*'2008 UWL Feud of the Year' (Matt Mathews vs. Tiger Claw) Personal life Mathews is the second of four children to Lance and Marissa. He attended Plymouth State University where he received a degree in Psychology. Mathews is married to his on-screen girlfriend, Kayla Stone, whose real name is now Samantha Matthews. The two have a son together, named Bruce and a younger daughter named Caitlin. Bruce was born two years before Mathews and Stone were married, while Caitlin was born while Mathews was a part of the Grind Roster. The two have had a very long term relationship which is believed to have started a few months after she became his valet. Mathews' brother, Jon Matthews, is also a fairly well-known referee in the Atlantic North region of North America. His youngest brother, Robb, has also made some appearances in various small wrestling companies. Mathews is also believed to be a big fan of the HomestarRunner body of work, as he has made numerous references to the site in his promos, particularly to a toon on the website entitled "yes, wrestling." Mathews has two tattoos on his forearms which he's never been able to describe, due to the generic appearance of them. He also has a band tattoo on his shoulder that's often unreadable, however he's said in an interview that is says "Samantha Thomas", Kayla's real-life name before they got married. Mathews is very good friends with his eternal rival and occasional on-screen ally the The Pheomenal Blu. The on-camera rivalry stems from their real life "competition" to be better than the other. Likewise, their on-camera respect and occasional friendship comes from their real life friendship with each other. Blu was also the best man at Mathews' wedding. Leon Tyrell (Mathews' on screen protégé) is also a close friend of his, however the length and cause of their friendship is unknown. When asked why he spells his surname differently for his "stage name" he replied that it was a typo on his application when he joined the Slamtime Wrestling Corporation. However, nobody in middle-management caught the error and so his contract came up with his name spelled "Mathews" all over it. To save time, he simply adopted the misspelling of his legit surname as his in-ring surname. Mathews is known to have a wide collection of wrestling tapes from around the globe. He has an entire room dedicated to his tapes and trophies and once said, "I must have at least a hundred tapes. I don't even think I've watched then all." Mathews is a registed member of the Libertarian Party. Matt Mathews Category:1969 births